British Open 2012 Payout: Winner's Purse and Final Leaderboard

In one of the wildest finishes in recent British Open history, South African star Ernie Els stole the show when leader Adam Scott had a mental meltdown on the final stretch of the tournament.

While Scott’s heart has to be broken because he let the 2012 Open Championship and his chance at the Claret Jug slip away from him, there is some compensation for the star.

The British Open pays big!

According to GolfandCourse.com, Els was the biggest benefactor of Scott’s poor play in Day 4, walking away with the gold medal and €900,000 ($1,098,000) in prize money. That’s not too shabby for a man that said during the lead up to the event on the live telecast that he felt lost as a golfer just a few months ago.

As for Scott, not only does he get the big-time experience of leading heading into the Day 4 of a Major, he walks away with a healthy €656,864 ($801,374) in prize money to help make up for the sadness of missing out on the win.

As a golfer, everyone knows the money is little compensation, though.

If you include bonuses, every player that finishes in the top-12 of the British Open will earn at least $100k for their trouble. Everyone that made the weekend wins some prize money, with even the 70th place finisher winning at least $14k.